Hot Off the Presses: 1000 Copies of Stereophile Test CD 1

Are you curious to hear J. Gordon Holt's lecture on "Why Hi-Fi Experts Disagree"? Maybe you are yearning for Sam Tellig, the "Audio Anarchist" as identified in the liner notes, to whisper sweet nothings into your ear with his radio-friendly baritone while checking a 1kHz reference tone at 20dB. Or how would you like a dog named Ralph to howl at you while configuring your left and right speakers? All this and more can be found on Stereophile's Test CD 1, now available in the Stereophile eCommerce Store.

Thanks to Test CD 1, I can now listen to the rushing water sounds of pink noise while I gather images for the next monthly issue of Stereophile. Not relaxing say you? Well how about three Romances composed by Robert Schumann performed on flute and piano. The disc features three different versions of the third Romance: one analog to digital transfer using a 128x-oversampling analog/digital converter developed by Chesky Records, another transferred with a Sony PCM 1630 A/D Converter, and a third track which switches between the two transfers via clever editing. Now you can DBT yourself at home all you want. Can you hear the differences? OK, maybe this process is not so relaxing, but it sure is fun! Anyway, setting up your hi-fi is supposed to make you sweat.

Also of note are the "Leslie" vocal test, some riveting guitar performances by Bruce Dunlap, and pieces by Chopin, Ravel, and Bach.

More info on Test CD 1 can be found here. This will very likely be the last pressing of Test CD 1 ever. Get it before it's gone.

While you're thinking about it (don't think too long), I'm going to zone out to some warble tones. A big thanks to the folks at JVC who got this order back to us in less than a week (!), and our warehousing friends at NRMS who keep the CDs safe for you.

how would you like a dog named Ralph to howl at you while configuring your left and right speakers?

The graphic on the booklet cover is the waveform of the dog's bark. A mix between a Dobermann and a Basset Hound, Ralph was, in Laura LoVecchio's immortal words, "not really a dog but more like a human in a dog suit."

When I remastered the disc for this and the previous press run (identifiable by a red booklet cover rather than the original's orange), I replaced the original warble tones (tracks 20–31) with the cleaned-up versions (lower distortion; slower warble rate) that had been featured on "Editor's Choice."

John, from your comment I can see that you do not have a very good grasp of what remastering is all about. You are supposed to take the whole disc, make everything way, way louder, then charge more for it.

It's remarkable how a 30 year old Chopin recording can sound better than most major label piano recordings today.

Thank you. That was my first ever recording of a classical piano and with hindsight, I can't believe how lucky I had been: a great-sounding, very quiet hall; use of a well-prepared Steinway; and a talented musician.